Speaking this month we have:

1st. Laura Kennington – Taking the Leap 

If there’s one thing that Laura’s certain of, it’s that we are all capable of much more than we realise – all it takes is a little self-belief and a hearty pinch of perseverance. Having quite literally leapt out of her comfort zone a few years ago whilst cliff-diving in America, she now enthusiastically encourage others through to think big, be brave and to start now.

Laura’s talks are about the importance of mindset when it comes to challenges of any kind. From the planning and logistics that go on behind the scenes, to the endurance capability of the human body and how to deal with the unexpected!

Laura Kennington is a British adventure athlete with a passion for the endurance capability of the human body. Previous adventures include solo cycling the world’s longest coastal route in Ireland, solo cycling Scotland’s North Coast 500 route, running the length of Fuerteventura (100 miles) in 4 days and circumnavigating three of the Channel Islands using three different sporting disciplines as part of a rather extreme triathlon! She has most recently returned from solo cycling 3700 miles along the North Sea-facing coasts of 8 countries, from Scotland to Norway!

A strong believer in the positive impact that adventure and sport can have on children and adults alike, Laura uses her human powered journeys as a platform to inspire and encourage others to get outside.

For more information see: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram 
Website: www.lauraexplorer.com

2nd. Russell Maddicks – Surprising El Salvador: Volcanic Peaks, Pacific Beaches, and Delicious Pupusas in Central America’s Tiny Treasure

In this talk, travel writer and guide book author Russell Maddicks goes beyond the media stereotypes to show the other side of El Salvador: a country of sleepy colonial towns with cobblestone streets; cloud-forest coffee haciendas producing the best beans in the world; isolated beaches sought out by surfers for their world class breakers; and unusual Mayan ruins giving unique insights into this mysterious Meso-American civilization.

A two-week trip around Central America’s smallest nation, gave him the chance to climb an active volcano and whiff the sulphur, try the local moonshine chaparro straight out of the copper still, enjoy an impromptu cooking class in how to make the nation’s favourite dish pupusas, and marvel at the country’s wildlife during an encounter with an endangered turtle.

He also visited the shrine of the Salvadoran human rights advocate and martyr Oscar Romero, a Catholic Archbishop tragically shot dead at the altar in 1980 who was recently made a Saint by the Pope, and interviewed a cheery ex-guerrilla who fought in the civil war during the 1990s and who now works as a park ranger to protect the country’s forests.

Every day of the trip brought a new surprise, whether it was learning that El Salvador produces the best natural indigo dye in the world, or trying a craft beer named Suegra (Mother-in-Law), because it’s dulcemente amarga (sweetly bitter).The lasting impressions he took with him are of fire-in-the-sky Pacific sunsets, the warm and welcoming smiles of the people he met along the way, and a nostalgic craving for Salvadoran street food.

About the Speaker

Russell Maddicks is a BBC-trained journalist and travel writer who has spent the last 20 years exploring the countries of Latin America and publishing his experiences in print, online and in social media. A graduate in Economic and Social History from the University of Hull, England, he is fluent in Spanish and loves nothing better than mastering the country-specific slang of the Latin American countries he visits.

He has worked as a reporter and editor at the Daily Journal newspaper in Caracas, the editor of a webzine aimed at the Latin American youth market called Loquesea! (Whatever!), and for 10 years worked as a regional specialist at the BBC covering political developments and general news across Latin America.

He is the author of travel guides to Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela, and has written articles for numerous international publications, including BBC Travel, National Geographic Traveller, the Mexico News Daily, Latino Life Magazine, ArtNews, and Songlines.

In 2015, his book Culture Smart! Ecuador was awarded the Gold Prize at the Pearl of the Pacific International Travel Journalism Awards at the Ecuadorian International Tourism Fair (FITE) in Guayaquil.

An accomplished public speaker, he has given illustrated talks on Latin American travel destinations at the World Travel Market in London, the Globetrotter’s Club, the Telegraph Outdoor and Adventure Travel Show, Destinations: The Holiday and Travel Show, and at UK colleges and universities.

You can follow his Latin American travels on Twitter and Instagram

Twitter: https://twitter.com/latamtravelist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latamtravelist/

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

Admission costs, we charge a small cash fee of £3 for Globetrotters members and £6 for non-members on the door to cover our expenses, tea/coffee and biscuits are included free in the interval between the talks.

You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here

This month we have:

1. AGM : The clubs AGM starts at 1:00 pm (card carrying members only), then at 2.30 the meeting begins

Speaking this month we have:

1. Anh Nguyen – A Cultural Insight of Madagascar’s East, Central & Western Landscape
   

   The talk covers my solo trip through the middle strip of Madascar, encountering the precipitating landscape of the East, the animated civilisation of the Central region through to the mountains and valleys of the West.

   For more information see:

   • Instagram: happysomeday

   

   

   

   

   

2. Adrian Alsop – The land that time forgot: a whistle stop tour of Iceland & the Faroe Isles
   

Admission costs, we charge a small cash fee of £3 for Globetrotters members and £6 for non-members on the door to cover our expenses, tea/coffee and biscuits are included free in the interval between the talks.

You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here

Details for this months talks are:

1. Tim Hannigan – The History Archipelago: Travels in Search of Indonesia’s Past

   Encompassing 17,508 islands, a quarter of a billion people, 300 languages and 127 active volcanoes, Indonesia is a country on a staggering scale. But compared to the other Asian mega-states, India and China, it is little known amongst outsiders.

   For the past fifteen years, journalist and author Tim Hannigan has explored the history and cultures of this enormous archipelagic state, mixing research in libraries and archives with motorcycling odysseys through the hinterlands of Java and Borneo, hair-raising bus rides in the mountains of Sulawesi, and stormy ferry crossings in Nusa Tenggara. From ventures into the crumbling Chinese quarters of Jakarta and Surabaya and investigations of colonial-era misadventure, to meetings with mystics, dragon-worshippers and witch doctors, he shares some of his most memorable encounters in a country where past and present are always in a formidable tangle.

   Tim is the author of A Brief History of Indonesia, Raffles and the British Invasion of Java, A Geek in Indonesia and several guidebooks covering Indonesia.

   Find out more at:

   • Twitter
   • Website
   • Facebook

   

   

   

   

2. Lindy Pyrah – Mauritania iron-ore train

   The Mauritania iron ore train is the true definition of a cult classic: an epic overnight train journey involving hopping on a freight wagon full of iron ore in zero comfort through a dangerous country while experiencing the amazing Sahara desert and night sky.

   Lindy is a train journey enthusiast and one of our Globetrotters committee members, she did the Mauritania iron ore train solo in January 2018 and would love to share her story of how she prepared, experienced and lived to tell the tale of this amazing journey. Normally desk bound for most of the year, Lindy tries to make the most of her small holiday allowance to undertake memorable adventures. 

Admission costs, we charge a small cash fee of £3 for Globetrotters members and £6 for non-members on the door to cover our expenses, tea/coffee and biscuits are included free in the interval between the talks.

You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here

Details for this months talks are:

1. Jane Amelia Harries – Hiking the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela – sores, pain and bliss

At Globetrotters Jane will talk about hiking over 750 km along the Camino Frances, an old pilgrim trail from France and across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela, which she claims was one of the best months of her life – so far (she hopes).

Jane is the founder of Adventure She, an online magazine which aims to empower, educate and entertain (predominantly though not exclusively women,) through sharing stories of adventure.  She’s also a training consultant and presenter who originally qualified as a solicitor. Specialising in tax enabled Jane to mix work with pleasure, as she indulged her passion for travel whilst working with some of the Big 4 Professional Services firms on three continents

Jane describes herself as a ‘soft’ adventurer, some might agree whilst others my doubt her claim.  Her adventures have included rafting and canoeing for 17 days on the Zambezi River; and travelling across China by overland truck before heading down Pakistan’s Karakoram Highway to Islamabad and doing the infamous Marathon des Sables, a 6 stage race in the Moroccan Sahara Desert, once described by the Discovery Channel as the ‘toughest footrace on earth.’ 

You can watch Jane’s  TedX talk about her MDS experience on YouTube at 

She’s also been a runner-up in veteran women’s team competition at the Australian 24-hour Rogaining Championships; raced across New Zealand’s South Island on foot, by bike and by kayak; and sometime ago, found herself in Venezuela during an attempted coup, as a passenger in a six-seater, flying below radar detection as planes were being shot at!

2. Julian Elliott – Forbidden Access

Photographic stories of going beyond the norm in order to get access to unseen views and imagery.

Find out more at:

• Facebook:
• Web page:

Admission costs, we charge a small cash fee of £3 for Globetrotters members and £6 for non-members on the door to cover our expenses, tea/coffee and biscuits are included free in the interval between the talks.

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here

There is no meeting this month.

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

Admission costs, £3 for Members and £6.00 Non-members. You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September.

If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here

Speaking this month we have:

1. Olie Hunter-Smart – Walking India Top to Bottom

   In April 2017, British adventurer Olie Hunter Smart set off from the Line of Control in Ladakh to walk the length of India, a 4,500km journey that would take him seven and a half months to complete. His aim: To uncover untold stories about Partition and Independence from Britain that took place in 1947, and to find out how it impacted the ordinary people of India.

   Olie will be sharing some of his experiences from his epic journey, from navigating his way through the crowded streets of Delhi and the fear of walking through a tiger reserve to the difficulty of finding a place to stay in rural villages and seeking out heart-rending stories from those that were directly affected by the largest mass migration of people in history.

   Olie was born in the south of England, spending much of his youth messing about in boats. At the age of 18 he spent 6 months in Belize working on a conservation project to rebuild a remote ranger station and teaching in a local school. The experience gave him an appetite for adventure, travel, to see the world and to understand more about different people and cultures.

   Since then, Olie has worked in the London advertising industry taking every opportunity to travel and see more of the world. In 2013 he backpacked his way from Russia, through Asia, Australasia and across South America. In 2015 Olie became one of only a handful of people to have travelled the length of the Amazon River unsupported on foot and by kayak, and in 2017 Olie took on a new challenge, to walk the length of India to uncover untold stories of India’s struggle for Independence.

   Find out more at

   • Website: www.oliehuntersmart.com
   • Social Media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

   

   

   

   

   

   

2. Becca, Max and Joel – Global Convoy -The Art of Absurd Travel.

   The Global Convoy – made up of Joel, Becca, Rich and Max – are a group of young adventurers who somehow managed to complete a full circumnavigation of the entire world in the space of a year! Using two cars they saved from a scrapheap, without a plan and not even close to a sensible budget, they set off East with their fingers crossed and their sights on the horizon. 4 continents, 46 countries, hundreds of hitchhikers and thousands of incredible stories later they rolled back into Dover with the new goal to help people see the world in the best and most exciting ways possible!

   Find out more at

   • Facebook
   • Instagram
   • Youtube

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend.

Admission costs, £3 for Members and £6.00 Non-members. You do not need to be a member to attend, and we do not sell advanced tickets, please just come on the day, the doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting between 45 – 60 minutes.

There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh each September. If you would like to keep up to date with what’s happening at the Globetrotters London meetings and to be sent email reminders prior to the meeting, please sign up here